SEC Shuts Down Alleged Ponzi Scam

LOS ANGELES (CN) – Danny Pang of Newport Beach and his Private Equity Management Group, of Irvine, defrauded investors of “hundreds of millions of dollars” in a Ponzi scheme, the SEC said in freezing the assets of Pang and his companies. The SEC also obtained an order that Pang bring back money he sent overseas and surrender his passport.

Pang’s companies are called Private Equity Management Group Inc. and Private Equity Management Group LLC. The SEC says he promised investors they would make money from timeshares and insurance policies, but used money from new investors to pay off old ones. He also is accused of forging a bogus $108 million insurance policy to persuade customers that he was insured. He also is accused of misrepresenting himself as a former senior vice president with Morgan Stanley, and as having an MBA from UC-Irvine, though he never worked for Morgan Stanley and didn’t even go to UC-Irvine. Neither Pang nor his companies have ever registered with the SEC. Most of his victims live in Taiwan, the agency said.